Jonathan Young was a fan-favorite during Survivor season 42, but he is now responding to accusations that he treated the women on the island poorly. Many seasons of Survivor will feature a stand-out competitor skilled in providing for other islanders, with Jonathan as a great example. Whether it was by fishing for the tribe, making sure the fire stays lit or keeping morale up with a good attitude, Jonathan entered the game intending to provide for the tribe as much as possible to stay in the game. The reason for this strategy was that he knew he would have a target on his back immediately.
With his muscular physique and unfaltering zeal for physical challenges, Jonathan was correct in believing he would seem like a threat to the other castaways. Dominating in virtually every obstacle, at times even carrying the challenge completely for his other tribemates, Jonathan was a force to be reckoned with on the island. While his physical game was strong, his social game began to slip up after the merge. He never had an all-out argument with his tribe, but his annoyance with tribemates like Survivor season 42 winner Maryanne Oketch often reared his head, causing him to lose his social favor. Jonathan still managed to make it to the final four, but despite making fire for his tribe all season long, he lost the fire-making challenge to Mike and became the last member of the jury.
In his exit interview with EW, Jonathan explored his time on the island and addressed the accusations that he treated women poorly. The claims of Jonathan’s sexist behavior came primarily from castaways Lindsay Dolashewich and Maryanne. Lindsay and Jonathan began the game as physically-talented allies but later became distant due to Lindsay growing frustrated with how Jonathan spoke to her during deliberations. Maryanne echoed this sentiment during the Survivor 42 finale when she mentioned that Jonathan did not treat the female tribemates well.
When asked to respond to the comments these women made, Jonathan was immediately remorseful. “Man, I hate that they felt that way,” Jonathan explained. “Because whenever I got a chance to talk about them, I would give them praise.” While some castaways might bulk from accusations, Jonathan didn’t deny anything and rather clarified that he wished the women felt differently, mainly because of how much he respected their game. “And that's what I would do is I'd try to build them up and I hate that they...Now they get to see that I was always lifting them up.”
Hailed as a social experiment, Survivor is a close-up look at how social dynamics play out among a group of strangers. Throughout Survivor's 42 seasons, there have been many instances of sexism, racism and prejudice in various forms. Luckily, Survivor producers have only become better at responding to these issues, taking a strong stance to clarify that these viewpoints are not acceptable. Jonathan seemed to regret the sequence of interactions that led to the women of the tribe thinking he was sexist, so hopefully, he can take this lesson and be more mindful of how he speaks to women in the future. As one of the most impressive physical competitors in the history of Survivor, fans hope he can learn the lesson and move on.
Source: EW